The Braves kept stretching their lead in the NL East, moving nine games clear of the Phillies, Marlins and Nationals entering the second full week of May. Atlanta did it the hard way, too, taking two of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend after losing its first series of the season to the Mariners earlier in the year.
That is the kind of start that leaves little doubt about who controls the division. The Braves are in the driver’s seat, and the source says the race could already be over if they avoid the kind of downturn that was expected to come at some point.
For the Phillies, the number that matters is not just Atlanta’s lead. It is the crowded middle behind them, where Philadelphia, Miami and Washington were all tied for second. In a different year, that might look like a chase. Right now it looks more like a hold pattern, with the Braves forcing everyone else to play catch-up from the start of May.
The broader National League picture was just as uneven. Seven of the remaining 10 teams were below.500 entering the second full week of May, and the Cubs were one of the few clubs trying to keep pace with the top tier after a roller-coaster run that briefly made them look like the league’s hottest team.
Chicago had already run off one 10-game winning streak earlier this season before stringing together another 10-game streak that ended on Saturday. During that latest surge, the Cubs beat the Reds three straight times with walk-off wins, and two of those came in extra innings. It was the kind of run that can change how a season feels even before the standings fully catch up.
That momentum slipped over the weekend, when the Cubs dropped two of three against the Rangers. The loss of that streak did not erase what they had done, but it did remind everyone how hard it is to stay hot for long in a league where only a handful of teams were above water.
The American League looked even thinner at the top. Just three teams entered the second full week of May with winning records, while all five clubs in the NL Central were above.500. That contrast helps explain why the National League felt so top-heavy and so soft at the same time: a few teams were building separation, while most of the rest were already fighting to keep their records respectable.
Last week, the Dodgers and Yankees lost their grip on their division leads, with Los Angeles having struggled longer than New York. The Braves, by contrast, were already banking wins and putting space between themselves and the rest of the NL East, the sort of cushion that can make the rest of May feel less like a race and more like a chase for second place.
